HAIRY TRIDENS
File Size: 37 KB
 
Erioneuron pilosum   (Buckl. ) Nash
[=Tridens pilosus  (Buckl. ) Hitchc.]
Morton County, Kansas
Perennial
Height: 4-12 inches
Family: Poaceae - Grass Family
Flowering Period:   May, June, July
Also Called: Hairy woollygrass.
Culms: Erect to ascending, slender, solid, unbranched, compressed, glabrous to rough or minutely hairy; usually with 1 node above basally clustered leaves.
Blades: Occur principally near base; folded to flat, erect, thick, linear, .8 to 3.2 inches long, less than 1/12 inch wide, soft-hairy; margins conspicuously thick, whitish; midrib thickened, whitish below; tips abruptly pointed to blunt.
Sheaths: Shorter than internodes, keeled, often soft-hairy at collar; margins finely fringed.
Ligules: Fringe of very short hairs.
Inflorescences: Panicle, short, contracted, .2 to 1.6 inches long, .6 to .8 inch broad, pale to purplish; branches few, short, 3-4 spikelets per branch.
Spikelets: Crowded, 6-14-flowered, 2/5 to 3/5 inch long, 1/8 to 1/3 inch wide, compressed; glumes narrow, boat-shaped, glabrous, tapering to points, 1-nerved, nerve sometimes extending as short awn; lemmas pointed to slightly notched, densely silky-hairy with long white hairs near base and on margins and nerves, midrib extending as short awn
Habitat: Pastures, prairies, disturbed sites, rocky hills, and roadsides; dry gravelly, sandy or rocky soil.
Distribution: West 1/2 of Kansas.
Forage Value: Poor forage for livestock and wildlife.
Comments: The tufts tend to pull up easily.

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